FEUCAT Language Proficiency — Grammar Fundamentals — Parts of Speech & DeterminersRevision Notes

Exam Tips

• Remember: proper nouns always start with capital letters
• Mass nouns like 'information' and 'advice' are always singular
• Collective nouns can be singular or plural depending on context
• Look for noun markers: a, an, the, my, his, her, this, that

Key Points

• A noun names a person, place, thing, animal, or idea (Albert Einstein, Philippines, happiness)
• Common nouns are general (boy, country, number) while proper nouns are specific (Monday, Philippines, Patricia)
• Concrete nouns can be perceived through the five senses (dog, coffee, rain) while abstract nouns cannot (truth, happiness, time)
• Count nouns can be counted (books, dogs, students) while mass nouns cannot (happiness, air, knowledge)
• Collective nouns refer to groups (audience, family, class)
• Nouns function as subjects, objects, complements, and appositives in sentences
• Gender categories: masculine (actor, king), feminine (actress, queen), common (teacher, student), neuter (table, book)

Definitions

Section Title

Nouns (Pangngalan) - The Foundation

Common Mistakes

• Confusing proper and common nouns in capitalization
• Using plural forms with mass nouns (informations instead of information)
• Misidentifying attributive nouns as adjectives
• Incorrect subject-verb agreement with collective nouns

Exam Tips

• Test pronoun case by removing other words: 'John and (I/me) went' becomes '(I/me) went'
• Who = he/she, Whom = him/her in questions
• Reflexive pronouns need a matching subject in the same clause
• Check that pronouns agree with their antecedents in number and gender

Key Points

• Pronouns substitute nouns to avoid repetition and create smoother sentences
• Personal pronouns have four forms: subjective (I, you, he), objective (me, you, him), possessive (mine, yours, his), reflexive (myself, yourself, himself)
• Relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that) introduce relative clauses
• Interrogative pronouns (who, what, which) ask questions
• Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those) point to specific things
• Indefinite pronouns (everyone, someone, nothing, all, some) refer to unspecified amounts or people
• Pronoun-antecedent agreement is crucial for clarity

Definitions

Section Title

Pronouns (Panghalip) - The Substitutes

Common Mistakes

• Using 'I' in object position (between you and I instead of between you and me)
• Confusion between who/whom (who for subjects, whom for objects)
• Incorrect reflexive pronoun usage (myself instead of I or me)
• Pronoun-antecedent disagreement in number or gender

Formulas

Exam Tips

• Learn principal parts of irregular verbs: go-went-gone, see-saw-seen
• Use consistent tense unless there's a clear time shift
• Modal + base form: can go, should study, might rain
• Active voice is usually clearer and stronger than passive

Key Points

• Verbs express action, state, or occurrence and form the main part of the predicate
• Action verbs show physical or mental action (run, think, create)
• Linking verbs connect subject to complement (am, is, are, seem, become, feel)
• Auxiliary verbs help main verbs show tense, mood, voice (have, be, do, will, shall)
• Modal verbs express possibility, necessity, permission (can, could, may, might, must, should, would)
• Verb tenses indicate when actions occur: past, present, future with simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous forms
• Voice shows whether subject performs (active) or receives (passive) the action

Definitions

Section Title

Verbs (Pandiwa) - The Action Words

Common Mistakes

• Confusing irregular verb forms (went/gone, saw/seen)
• Incorrect tense consistency within paragraphs
• Misusing modal verbs (should of instead of should have)
• Passive voice overuse making writing unclear

Formulas

Exam Tips

• Remember Royal Order: Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Origin-Material-Purpose
• One-syllable adjectives usually take -er/-est
• Two or more syllables usually take more/most
• Irregular comparatives: good-better-best, bad-worse-worst

Key Points

• Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns
• Three degrees of comparison: positive (tall), comparative (taller), superlative (tallest)
• Proper order: determiner + opinion + size + shape + age + color + origin + material + purpose + noun
• Coordinate adjectives are separated by commas (bright, sunny day)
• Cumulative adjectives build on each other without commas (small red car)
• Articles (a, an, the) are special adjectives called determiners
• Participles can function as adjectives (running water, broken window)

Definitions

Section Title

Adjectives (Pang-uri) - The Describers

Common Mistakes

• Double comparatives (more better instead of better)
• Wrong adjective order (red small car instead of small red car)
• Comparing absolute adjectives (very unique instead of unique)
• Confusing adjectives with adverbs (good vs. well)

Formulas

Exam Tips

• Good is adjective, well is adverb (except for health: I feel well)
• Bad is adjective, badly is adverb
• Place adverbs close to words they modify
• Most -ly words are adverbs, but some are adjectives (friendly, lonely)

Key Points

• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
• Answer questions: How? (quickly), When? (yesterday), Where? (here), To what extent? (very)
• Most adverbs end in -ly, but not all (fast, well, here, there)
• Placement matters: near the word being modified for clarity
• Degrees of comparison like adjectives: fast-faster-fastest, carefully-more carefully-most carefully
• Conjunctive adverbs connect ideas (however, therefore, meanwhile, consequently)
• Adverb phrases and clauses provide additional modification

Definitions

Section Title

Adverbs (Pang-abay) - The Modifiers

Common Mistakes

• Using adjectives instead of adverbs (She sings good instead of well)
• Misplaced modifiers creating unclear meaning
• Double negatives (don't have no money)
• Confusion between good/well, bad/badly

Exam Tips

• Time: at 3 o'clock, on Monday, in January
• Place: at the corner, on the table, in the room
• After prepositions, use objective pronouns (him, her, us, them)
• Avoid unnecessary prepositions at sentence endings

Key Points

• Prepositions show relationships between nouns/pronouns and other words
• Common types: time (at, on, in), place (above, below, beside), direction (to, from, toward)
• Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions and end with objects
• Time prepositions: at (specific times), on (days/dates), in (months/years/periods)
• Place prepositions: at (specific points), on (surfaces), in (enclosed spaces)
• Compound prepositions consist of multiple words (according to, in spite of)
• Objects of prepositions are always in objective case

Definitions

Section Title

Prepositions (Pang-ukol) - The Connectors

Common Mistakes

• Ending sentences with prepositions unnecessarily
• Confusing in/on/at for time and place
• Using wrong case after prepositions (between you and I instead of me)
• Redundant prepositions (where at, off of)

Exam Tips

• FANBOYS need commas before them in compound sentences
• Semicolons often precede conjunctive adverbs
• Subordinating conjunctions create fragments if not attached to independent clauses
• Correlative conjunctions must maintain parallel structure

Key Points

• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses
• Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) join equal elements
• Subordinating conjunctions (because, although, when, if, since) introduce dependent clauses
• Correlative conjunctions work in pairs (either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also)
• Conjunctive adverbs connect independent clauses (however, therefore, meanwhile)
• Comma usage varies with conjunction type and sentence structure
• Parallel structure required with coordinating conjunctions

Definitions

Section Title

Conjunctions (Pangatnig) - The Joiners

Common Mistakes

• Comma splices with conjunctive adverbs
• Missing commas before coordinating conjunctions in compound sentences
• Breaking parallel structure with coordinating conjunctions
• Confusing coordinating and subordinating conjunctions

Exam Tips

• Strong emotion = exclamation point
• Mild emotion = comma or period
• Interjections are grammatically separate from sentence structure
• Use sparingly in academic writing

Key Points

• Interjections express emotion or sudden feeling
• Usually stand alone or at sentence beginnings
• Strong emotions use exclamation points (Oh no! Wow!)
• Mild emotions use commas or periods (Oh, I see. Well, maybe.)
• Common interjections: oh, ah, ouch, hey, wow, alas, hooray
• Can be single words, phrases, or even sentences
• Often informal and more common in speech than writing

Definitions

Section Title

Interjections (Pandamdam) - The Expressers

Common Mistakes

• Overusing interjections in formal writing
• Incorrect punctuation with interjections
• Confusing interjections with other parts of speech

Exam Tips

• Use 'an' before vowel sounds, not just vowel letters (an hour, a university)
• The goes with specific, known items; a/an with general, unknown items
• Some determiners work only with countable nouns (many, few)
• Others work only with uncountable nouns (much, little)

Key Points

• Determiners specify or limit nouns by showing quantity, possession, or definiteness
• Articles: a (indefinite, consonant sounds), an (indefinite, vowel sounds), the (definite)
• Demonstratives: this/these (near), that/those (far)
• Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
• Quantifiers: some, many, few, several, all, both, each, every
• Numbers and numerals function as determiners
• Order matters when multiple determiners appear together

Definitions

Section Title

Determiners - The Specifiers

Common Mistakes

• Using 'a' before vowel sounds instead of 'an'
• Overusing 'the' with general or abstract concepts
• Wrong determiner order (the my book instead of my book)
• Quantifier disagreement with countable/uncountable nouns